Ibm Will Move Some Jobs To Office In Philadelphia

A regional "administrative realignment" at International Business Machines Corp. will eliminate a small number of jobs at IBM's Bethlehem office, according to a corporate spokesman.

The spokesman declined to say exactly how many jobs will be moved to the Philadelphia regional office, saying that is proprietary information. He did say, however, that a total of 210 employees work in IBM's Bethlehem and Scranton office, and the move will affect fewer than 10 percent of the employees in those two offices.

The realignment was announced last week, the spokesman said. Such functions as order processing and customer billing will be consolidated in Philadelphia to improve efficiency and cut costs, he said.

The employees whose jobs are moved can elect to transfer to the new location, accept another IBM job or take an incentive to retire or resign, he said. IBM said last November it would launch a massive restructuring and cut 20,000 of the company's 350,000 employees.

The Bethlehem office, at 1770 Bathgate Road, houses employees who sell and service IBM equipment.